who prevails at Hangzhou wan song academy

*

yang mei versus me
face off between a scholar
and troublemaker
*

west lake in december

*
a warm winter day
west lake is filled with people
forgetting they're here
*

exhausted

i know things are bad
on a week without haikus
no space to ponder

*
*
*

1.3 billion
scrambling to get to first place
get me outta here

porcini mushrooms in China

chinese porcinis!
called bovine liver fungus
can't wait to try them

hunting for gems

a hidden corner
in midst of city bustle
happy folk market

the seagulls of Kunming

seagulls from russia
flock here in winter
paradise is relative

winter in China

it's sad to return
to find that a young woman
died from PCP

a man with lung mass
surgeons refused biopsy
couldn't get treatment

folks die of stigma
in summer of the corporate state
winter of compassion

*

Kunming Third People's Hospital: a crash course in HIV medicine

22 year olds
in charge of 2k (HIV!) patients
a little scary

*

soy kawaii

magical soymilk
happy loving studying
can't get more asian

*

hong kong dim sum

*

chillin' with old dudes
better than hotel buffet
real hong kong dim sum

happy memories
of my father hanging out
for hours, relaxed

turnip cake, pumpkin
fresh handmade chewy chang fen
fat buddha belly

*

the urban monk (sounds better than nun)

5 am yoga
facing the hong kong skyline
stillness and movement


*

biz classy!

After innumerable long-haul flights, I am flying business class for the first time in my life.

Check out my feet, lounging in a chaise recliner with my laptop, facing the snack and wine bar with sandwiches and dim sum.

The airline staff and security people acted shocked and had to check my boarding pass twice to allow me to enter the special biz class lines (much shorter with nicer staff) and the special first/biz class lounge- and they were all Asian women about my age.


It's really weird to be a part of this ridiculously elite group of people (not just able to travel internationally but to be able to pay a lot extra to travel comfortably). I feel like I'm in some satire film, like the vagrant who somehow snuck into this world of rich people and am pretending to fit in. I will enjoy this fun adventure while I can!!

garage remodel adventure!

check out our before, during and after photos, transforming our water damaged garage into a studio-office-fun-house-she-cave!!

forbidden people in the city

autumn afternoon
enjoying a bean pop in
forbidden city

forest frog oviducts

coconut juice sweets
with forest frog's oviducts
what the hell is this?

phoenix rising in beijing

out of the Wuhan ashes...

tofu, shrooms galore
organic greens, local farms
not cooked in pork fat

... Wow!

generic shop

tell it like it is
don't even try to stand out
fire the marketer

Mid-Autumn Festival at Wuhan airport

stormy afternoon
ramen, moon cake, juice for lunch
watching planes take off

a bird in Wuhan

amidst soot and noise
a bird issues an urgent song
remember, i'm here

the inconvenient truth

in Wuhan twilight
tree leaves collect toxic dust
heavy red sun sets